Any week that has a Resident of the Month event in it is bound to be a great week.  We honored two residents this week and had a capacity crowd in the Wilbur and Mary Jean Cohen Religious and Cultural Center, helping us to celebrate their achievements.  We saw some great photos, heard some inspiring stories and even had one of the residents serenade us with a mini-concert on his harmonica.  It is always a wonderful evening and an opportunity for us to learn much more about the remarkable folks for whom Cedar Village is home.

On Thursday, some of us had the opportunity to attend the National Philanthropy Day luncheon which was held downtown at the Hyatt.  We honored our Chesed Corps volunteers this year, well deserved for all of the good work that they do.  Chesed means "acts of loving kindness" and it is a program that engages our residents in active volunteer roles.  The Chesed team does weekly projects, including preparing Shabbat baskets that are delivered to area hospitals and they do monthly outreach projects as well.  The Chesed Corps has prepared and served lunch at the Ronald McDonald House five times; they have held two "unbirthday" parties at the Center for Respite Care, a shelter for homeless individuals with medical needs; they've served dinner and shared an evening with Halom House residents; and even staffed a dinner at a community meal center (soup kitchen).  This month's project consisted of collecting and packages items for Operation Thank You troops in honor of Veteran's Day and we completed that effort this past Monday.  There were two Jewish soldiers that we were specifically asked to pack boxes for and we filled those with the usual toiletries and the like but then added some Chanukah gelt and other holiday items to help them feel the care and concern from all of us here at home.

If you aren't familiar with Kickstarter, I can tell you that it is an Internet based tool that helps folks launch new projects, services and programs.  So why am I telling you this?  Because there is a film project that is focused on art and dementia, specifically around the OMA program, that has been posted on Kickstarter.  OMA is a program we do in partnership with the Scripps Gerontology Center at Miami University and is one in which we have seen tremendous results, engaging residents and enabling them, despite their disease, to make choices and express themselves.  We take these creative expression efforts even further through the David and Nancy Wolf Creative Expression Program and the work of our art and music therapists. The Kickstarter video is filled with scenes from Cedar Village and you may find the project to be of interest, so here is the link for you if you'd like to check it out:  http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/agelessart/ageless-art-creative-expression-for-elders-with-de

Don't forget that Battle of the Bands is in two short weeks.  You don't want to miss it!  Sunday, December 2 at the 20th Century Theater in Oakley.  It's an evening of music, good food and great fun.  Hope to see you there!

All the best,  

carol@cedarvillage.org